I have a weakness for my low-carb chicken tenders, so I tend to eat more than I really need to. I decided to cook some zucchini the same way so I don’t get as much protein (which raises insulin). Not bad! I haven’t made fried zucchini in a while, so I forgot to salt them and let them sit for a while before breading, but I was otherwise very pleased with the results. I’m sure I’ll be having this often.The breading is made from almond meal, parmesan cheese, a little ground flax, onion powder, garlic powder, pepper, and salt. I dipped the coins in a beaten egg first, swished them through the breading, then fried them in coconut oil.

It’s my daughter’s turn to bring the snack for Girl Scout’s again. For this fruit cup, I used sugar-free strawberry Jell-O on the bottom, to which I added some blueberries, raspberries, and a single big strawberry. The next layer is sugar-free orange Jell-O with pieces of pear. I topped off the whole thing with some fresh, sugar-free whipped cream. The sprinkles are just regular cake sprinkles (I figured it’s not that much), but I’ve dyed erythritol before. Today is a warm day, so I thought Jell-O and fruit would be refreshing, yet the colors mirror the beautiful autumn trees we’ve been enjoying. Yes, I like to make my desserts symbolic!

I was kind of in a bind for dinner tonight. I had some thawed hamburger meat that I really needed to use, but I didn’t have any specific plans for it. So I sauteed a couple of chopped onions with a diced red bell pepper while I steamed a pound of frozen cauliflower in the microwave. When the veggies in the pan were just starting to brown, I added my pound (maybe a little more) of meat, added some powdered garlic, covered it, and let it cook while I drained and then pulsed the cauliflower in the food processor just a couple of times (going for a coarse chop to simulate pasta). I added this to the pan and let the whole thing simmer till the meat was done. Drained it, then added half a can of chicken stock. To the other half, I added about 3/4 teaspoon of xanthan gum, whizzed it up pretty good with my stick blender, then added it to the pan. Added about half a pound of cheddar cheese, some salt, and about 1/3 cup cream. When my husband asked what was for dinner, I didn’t know what to call it, so I said, “Low-Carb Hamburger Helper.” He said he liked it. Daughter loved it. Veggie-hating son wouldn’t go near it, but I expected that.

I’ve really been enjoying powdered “energy” drinks from Crystal Light and Great Value (Walmart) recently. Yeah, they’re full of artificial everything (including aspartame), but they do hit the spot. Each box comes with ten foil tubes that you tear open and dump into a half-liter bottle of water (or, in my case, a glass with two cups of water).

The flavors are great, and there’s a lot of variety, which is the one feature that lures me in more than anything else. I like that I can have strawberry one day and grape the next without worrying about bottles of soda going flat (or taking up room in the fridge).

These drink mixes are also cheaper than soda. Each box ($2 or less) would make the equivalent of about two and a third 2-liter bottles. And they’re a lot easier to carry home.

The “energy” component is just a side benefit. Each tube has 120 mg of caffeine, so don’t go crazy chugging down bottle after bottle. I do like a little caffeine, and these cost no more than the “to go” mixes without caffeine. If these cost significantly more than the non-caffeinated drink mixes, I wouldn’t bother with them.

The mixes are listed as having no carbs, but they have 10 calories per tube. In my math, that’s about 2.5 g of carbs, but they get away with saying zero by utilizing the FDA’s loose rules on the subject.

If you don’t object to the chemicals and can afford the extra carbs, these are a nice little perk-up to have on hand.

At breakfast this morning, I didn’t have enough chocolate waffle batter left for two waffles, so I made one chocolate and one vanilla. The combination felt sinfully decadent. Of course I topped them off with sugar-free chocolate syrup and whipped cream.

I had low-carb chocolate waffles again this morning, getting a little fancy with the sugar-free chocolate syrup.

For dinner tonight I made beef stew. For vegetables, I used onion, red bell pepper, mushrooms, and carrots (surprisingly low-carb when used in stew quantities). I thickened the sauce with xanthan gum and gelatin. On the side, we had low-carb cheddar biscuits.

For lunch I had a few prepackaged meatballs, but then I felt a little sick, so I had some orange Jell-O. Later I was still feeling hungry, so I tried something new: Peanut butter mixed with coconut oil.

I scooped up about a tablespoon of each, plus one drop of EZ-Sweetz (equal to one packet of Splenda). A briefly microwaved the lot to make it easier to mix, and this made both of them very liquidy. At first I thought the experiment was a terrible mistake. The oil seemed to overwhelm the peanut butter, and, quite frankly, it looked kind of gross. But eventually the two incorporated.

I hesitantly tasted the still-warm mixture and was surprised to find that it was absolutely delicious, and it had such a wonderful, creamy texture. I dunked my spoon in this a few times, then I decided to try it solid, so I popped it in the freezer. It froze solid within minutes, but it was easy to pop out bites of it (with that much oil, obviously it’s not going to stick). It was good frozen, too! I let it sit a few minutes until it thawed out but was still cold, and it was good like that. Later, I made a batch for my daughter and mixed it up without heating, and I found that it was good at room temperature as well. How many foods can you eat warm, at room temperature, cold, and frozen, and it’s good in all four states?

This was an impressively satisfying and filling snack. I’ll definitely have it again!

For dinner I had Buffalo wings with blue cheese dressing. I was still kind of full from my snack, so I only had six of them. Later on, I had some more orange Jell-O.

For breakfast today, I had low-carb chocolate waffles made with almond flour. I lightly drizzled the waffles with sugar-free chocolate syrup to add extra decadence (the syrup isn’t very good by itself, but it’s great on the waffles). And of course I topped the whole thing off with whipped cream.

Low-Carb Chocolate-Almond Protein Shake: A cup of water mixed with a scoop of vanilla whey, about three tablespoons cocoa powder, one or two tablespoons almond butter (for a richer texture, more complex taste, and the health benefits of almonds), two or three tablespoons of heavy cream (same benefits as almonds, plus the extra fat makes it extra filling), and a dash of light salt (I use light salt for the extra potassium content).I get vanilla whey even though I almost always drink chocolate shakes. I like being able to make them as chocolatey as I want, plus I have the versatility of being able to use the whey in non-chocolate foods (or in fruit drinks).

I had “breaded” low-carb chicken tenders for dinner tonight. Using tenders is so much easier than using whole chicken breast, and it really doesn’t cost all that much more. I dipped these in a beaten egg, then let each piece drip off thoroughly. Then I dipped them in a mixture of about two parts almond meal (unblanched) to one part each of coconut flour, flax meal, and parmesan cheese, plus granulated garlic and onion, salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning. A key thing here is to shake them off really well after coating them so you don’t get as many crumbs in the oil. I deep fried them at 375 for 3 minutes.

I kind of wanted a dipping sauce for my chicken tenders, so I put together this low-carb orange sauce. I used about a quarter cup of reduced-sugar ketchup with about an equal amount of water. I added a splash of apple cider, several drops of liquid sucralose, some powdered garlic, about 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon orange extract, and a tiny bit of molasses (I dipped a teaspoon into the jar, let it drip, and then I used the amount that clung to the spoon, maybe 1/4 teaspoon). I thickened the sauce a little bit by dusting a pinch of xanthan gum over the surface. It was still fairly thin, but I chickened out of trying to use any more. I decided that we’d use less of a thin sauce, anyway. But we liked it so much that next time I think I will make a much bigger batch, and then blend the xanthan gum in with a stick blender.